LOS ANGELES – Even before Brad Halsey beat the Dodgers yesterday, the day was a success for the Yankees when Mike Mussina announced his right groin wasn’t an issue after a 10-minute bullpen session in the morning.

“I did a full side bullpen,” said Mussina, who threw about 50 pitches. “There were no problems. Mel [pitching coach Stottlemyre] even said it was OK. This had a lot more effort in it [than a BP session Thursday], and there were no problems.”

That was exactly what the Yankees wanted to hear, because if Mussina had been forced to join Kevin Brown on the disabled list, manager Joe Torre’s rotation would have been Javier Vazquez, Jon Lieber, Jose Contreras, Tanyon Sturtze and Halsey.

Now, with Mussina set to start Tuesday night in Baltimore, Sturtze goes back to the bullpen after one start. If Brown comes off the DL Friday – not a sure thing at this point – Halsey would go back to Triple-A Columbus.

Since Mussina was riding a six-game winning streak after starting the year 1-4 and pitching brilliantly on June 10 when he was forced out of a game against the Padres after three innings, Mussina obviously didn’t need the time off. However, there was no getting around the fact that the groin was serious enough to have him sit for a while.

“You can’t pitch through that,” said Mussina, who would have been placed on the DL had he felt the slightest twinge yesterday.

Mussina is hopeful that since he didn’t need 15 days on the DL that the sharpness he was experiencing didn’t vanish.

“I haven’t been out that long,” Mussina said.

Mussina’s return to health makes the Yankees breath easier when it comes to their rotation, but it doesn’t kill their desire or need for another pitcher across the final three months of the season.

The leading candidate to bolster the Yankees’ rotation is Seattle right-hander Freddy Garcia. But there are other pitchers expected to be available. The Braves may shop Russ Ortiz, and the Angels, despite his winning record, may dangle lefty Jarrod Washburn. He will intrigue the righty-heavy Yankees, who will use switch-hitting minor league catcher Dioner Navarro as bait in any deal.